A former streetfighter that took up mixed martial arts in 2007, Slice has been a YouTube sensation, network television superstar, reality show contestant and pay-per-view draw. His trademark beard and gold chain drew viewers by the millions when he was starring with the now-defunct EliteXC organization and again when he was shockingly selected as a contestant on “TUF 10.”

White often blasted Slice as a freak show fighter when he was competing for EliteXC, and the UFC exec on Saturday admitted his initial evaluations of the heavyweight had been wrong.

“I didn’t know Kimbo,” White said. “I just knew what I saw. The first time I ever met him, I said, ‘This is going to be an interesting meeting with all the [expletive] I’ve said about this guy over the past two years.’

“He came in, and he couldn’t be a nicer guy. He took this serious, he trained, went after it.”

Slice was defeated by Roy Nelson in the first round of the “TUF 10″ tournament, but he was asked back to the finale to face slugger Houston Alexander. The fight fell flat as Alexander largely refused to engage, and Slice earned a unanimous-decision win in a less-than-stellar 15-minute affair.

“His first fight wasn’t the YouTube fights that you saw, but he won,” White said. “He won that fight, and he deserved another fight in the UFC.”

That fight came against Mitrione, who used leg kicks to batter Slice, threatened with a pair of triangle choke attempts on the ground, and ultimately earned a second-round TKO via strikes after mounting the bearded brawler, who showed no signs that he would be able to return to his feet.

While often critical of the brawler in his early days, White said his likely decision has nothing to do with Slice as a person.

“I said that I have a lot of respect for Kimbo and how he’s handled this whole thing – a lot of trash-talking for a couple of years, by me,” White said. “He took me up on my challenge. He came in to ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ and tonight he got beat by Matt Mitrione. Mitrione was 1-0, and he came in and took Kimbo out tonight.

“I’ve got nothing but respect for Kimbo. I like him as a person. He carried himself really well.”